Snowblind
by blurubberlizard
Summary: The NCIS team is sent north to find a Navy Commander's daughter, who disappeared from her college campus. The case leads them down a dangerous path...one they might not return from. Rating is just be safe.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: Don't own them...But Cassie and the O'Connell's are mine. :)**

_**SnowBlind**_

**Wanewood College of Art and Creative Thinking  Just outside of Castine, Maine**

"Cassie, wait up!"

Cassie Anderson spun around to see the O'Connell twins chasing after her. She had to laugh. Though they were identical twins, Jack and Danny O'Connell had an older brother/younger brother mentality. So as she turned to walk toward them, it didn't surprise her to find Jack on top of Danny, pinning him down in a pile of autumn leaves. She shifted her bag to her other shoulder and walked toward her boys. She sighed, as the wrestling match continued. It was great that the boys had time for fun but she had a concert to prepare for.

"Cass, help me!" Danny called from the pile, his blond hair covered in leaves.

"You two are such children." She said and turned to walk away when Jack grabbed her leg and pulled her into the leaves with them. Her books went flying from her hands as she collapsed on top of him. Cassie met Jack's playful eyes before she dumped an new pile of leaves on his head. He retaliated by grabbing hips and began an epic tickle fight. The laughed and rolled around in the leaves, each trying to keep the other at bay while attempting to attack the other with their fingers.

"Jack!" she squealed.

"Why don't you two get a room?" Danny teased, finally getting up and dusting himself off. He then offered his hand to Cassie, helping her out of the leaves.

"Hey, what about me?" Jack asked.

"I think you can just stay down there for a little while." Cassie teased. Jack smiled and offered out his hand. After a few seconds, she finally gave in and helped him up. It was his eyes. They made her melt every time. Jack bent over to pick up her books. Big mistake. Jake felt the kick in the ass as he fell face first back into the leaves. Cassie smiled her apology and helped him up. His arms stayed around her shoulder and they continued on their way.

The trio walked across the campus of Maine's newest college, _Wanewood College of Art and Creative Thinking_. It was a beautiful autumn afternoon. Midcoast Maine at its finest. Cassie enjoyed it a lot more than the busy metro of DC. The leaves of the white birch trees were a bright yellow and raining down all around them.

"So are you guys going to "The Scottish Play" auditions tonight?" Danny asked.

"Yeah, I've been preparin all semester for this." Jack said. "Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow…"

"I think you'll be just fine. I, on the other hand, need to work on my sculpture for class and our duet for the concert." Cassie said.

"_I think we're snow blind. We've had a hard time_." Jack broke out into song. "_And we can't see where we are_." Cassie sang back.

"See you're just fine. So are you coming to auditions or not?" Jack said.

"Fine, I'll be there. Besides who else is going to play Lady to your McB."

"True. You comin, Danny?"

"No. I gotta work on my painting for the festival."

"Not the Mad Apples painting still?"

"It's not finished yet."

"Whatever." The three were so lost in conversation that none of them noticed the black SUV parked behind them. It started up and drove away.

They soon arrived at the foot of the grand stairs leading up to the Robert Jones Dormitory of Fine and Performing Arts. The magnificent brick building was home to about a hundred prodigies of the arts. Danny bid his farewell to the group and rushed upstairs. Cassie and Jack laughed as he ran right into the young redhead coming out of the doorway, scattering her sheet music all over the ground. It was Jessi Thomas, the violinist than Danny had been crushing on since arriving at the college. Cassie laughed at their awkward moment and then returned her attention back to Jack.

"Hey, pretty lass. What's on your mind?" he teased. She laughed. Jack always had a way of knowing when something was bothering her. Her gaze went to his eyes, their bright green shining even in the overcast of the skies. He had a way of smiling with just his eyes. It just made her love him even more.

"Something just feels off. I feel like someone's been watching me."

"Damn, you caught me." Jack joked, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her in a kiss. "I'm your secret stalker."

"Not funny."

"I'm sorry. Hey, I have something for you." He pulled her off the beaten path and pulled a small black box from his pocket.

"Oh God. You're not going to propose, are you?" Cassie asked.

"Am I on my bloody knees?" he laughed. "Just open the box, love."

Cassie carefully opened the black jewelry box to reveal a gold necklace. A stag stood proudly in the center of the green and white emerald studded pendant.

"Jack. This is beautiful."

"It's our family crest. My ma gave it to me when I first came to school."

"I don't even know what to say."

"How cute, Donny." The couple spun around to see a man in dark clothes and a ski mask standing behind them. Jack quickly pulled Cassie into a run, only to be cut off again. Another man in similar dress leaned against the hood of the black SUV.

"Aww. I know, Ray. It looks like we're spoiling the moment." The other man said, his voice more sinister.

"Jack." Cassie whispered. He grasped her hand tight for reassurance. Though in reality, he wasn't quite sure who he was trying to reassure, Cassie or himself.

"What do you want?" Jack asked, defiantly, his bravado slipping through his Irish brogue.

"Honestly, we want nothing with you." The one called Donny said.

"We've come for the girl." Ray said, flashing his gun at the couple. "Now come along nice and gentle-like and we won't have to get rough with you."

Jack stepped in front of Cassie, shielding her with his own body, his eyes never leaving the gun.

"Piss off!" he spat.

"Very well." Donny sneered. He turned around to march back to the truck. Suddenly he whipped back around and punched Jack right in the face. He went down hard.

"No! Let me go! Jack! Jack!" she struggled.

"Ow!" Ray scremed as Cassie's teeth clamped down on his hand. "The bitch bit me!" Donny back handed Cassie with the butt of his gun and she went limp in Ray's arms.

"Better? Now just the girl in the car and let's get out of here!" Donny barked.

"What about him?" Ray asked as he put Cassie into the back seat.

"We'll take him with us as leverage. Kind of a Plan B of sorts."

"And if that don't work?"

"We kill them."

**Portland International Jetport Portland, Maine**

"So why are we here boss?" Tony asked. "Considering we just got off the flight from Hell."

Gibbs grinned. The flight from Washington D.C. had been a little on the rough side. McGee spent most of his time locked in the airplane bathroom and DiNozzo had a nice bruise on the left side of his face. He had smacked it on the plane window during a patch of turbulence.

"What's the matter, Tony? Rough flight?" Ziva said with a smile as she grabbed her bags from baggage claim.

"A little. Must have been nice being bumped up to first class."

"Jealous, Tony?"

"You weren't lonely, Zee-va?"

"I kept myself occupied with some light reading."

"Another men's magazine, Ziva?" Tony asked. Ziva smacked him in the chest with the book she'd been reading.

"The Langoliers? Seriously? We're on the flight from hell and your reading The Langoliers."

"The Langoliers?" McGee said, stepping out of the men's bathroom.

"You never read it, McGee? Stephen King. Only one of the best horror writers of our time. A group of passengers make an emergency landing at the Bangor International Airport after discovering that most of the passengers had disappeared. Some freaky stuff happens. Time travel, hallucinations, past-eating creatures."

"Let me guess, they made a movie about it."

"Why's that, McGee?"

"Cause it's hard to believe that you actually read anything."

"Come on, Probie. Give me some credit." Tony said. He paused for only a short moment before. "Okay! It was 1995. Most of the film was shot in Bangor, Maine, which happens to be King's hometown. King even made a cameo in the…" SMACK! Gibbs hand connected with the back of his head.

"You about done, DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked as he walked towards the airport doorway.

"On your six, Boss." Tony said and scrambled to follow Gibbs.

"So what are we actually doing here, Gibbs?" Ziva asked. "The last thing you told us was that there was a case up north that needed our immediate assistance."

"A Navy Commander's 23 yr old daughter disappeared from a college near Castine. He reported her missing after not hearing from her after her auditions."

"She an actress, Boss?" McGee asked.

"Prodigy. Actress, singer, poet, sculptor. She does it all."

They left the jetport to find a military convoy waiting for them. A stern somber looking man came to greet them.

"Commander Anderson." Gibbs said.

"Agent Gibbs. Thank you so much for your haste. I didn't know who else to call."

"Easy Luke. I'm here now and we're going to do what we can to help. Now when was the last time you saw your daughter, Commander?"

"Last Sunday, she came home for the weekend. But I called her on Monday. She had auditions and I wanted to wish her luck. That was the last time I spoke to her."

"When did you notice something was wrong?" Gibbs asked

"I knew there were two days of auditions and then callbacks. But when it got to be Friday I knew there was something wrong."

"Why's that?"

"She would have called. She always calls right away, whether she got the part or not." Commander Anderson reported.

"Maybe she got distracted. She is a college student after all. Or maybe she called her mother?" Tony asked.

"Her mother ran off to Atlantic City soon after Cassie was born. She's been out of the picture for a long time."

"I'm sorry."

"Please, Gibbs. You have to find my little girl. She's all I got left."

We'll find her, Commander. Is there anyone else we can talk to who had regular contact with Cassie?"

"Mr. Cochrane is her theatrics professor."

"Anyone else?"

"The O'Connell boys. Jack and Danny. Jack is my daughter's boyfriend."

"DiNozzo. McGee, you two find the boyfriend. Ziva, let's you and I have a chat with professor." Gibbs turned back to the Commander. "We'll find her, Luke."

**TBC...well its a start. I should have another chapter up soonish.**


	2. Chapter 2

"Where am I?" Cassie whispered to herself. She put her hand to her face where a fresh bruise was already forming. _That's not gonna look pretty_, she thought. Forcing her eyes open, Cassie tried to get an idea of exactly where she was. It was musty and cold. She could here dripping water somewhere in the distance. Her eyes were fighting the dizziness and the darkness. It didn't help that the only light was coming from a high window out of reach. Cassie stood up and managed to make her way to the door. Locked. _That would have been way too easy_, she thought. She turned around to get a better sense of the room when she gasped.

"Jack!" Cassie was on her knees beside him in an instant. She carefully brushed his hair away from his face. His eyes were shut tight in pain. His face was bloody and covered in dirt and sweat. Cassie stood up and tore strips of fabric from the sleeves of her shirt. She soaked the fabric in the water that was leaking from one of the pipes above her head. When she returned to Jack, she gathered his body into her lap and gently rocked him back and forth while cleaning the dried blood and dirt from his face.

"_And I need you…everybody needs someone like you. If you need me too. You'd be the only thing that I'd take…_" She softly sang.

"Cassie!" He shot up suddenly. His back arched in pain and he collapsed right back down. His green eyes darted back and forth in a confused panicked state, unable to focus. His breaths were sharp and rapid.

"Jack. Shhhh! It's okay. I'm right here." She said, trying to calm him down. She set him down on the ground and grabbed his face with her hands, trying to get him to look at her. His eyes finally locked onto hers and his breathing relaxed. His hand reached up to softly touch the bruise on her face. Cassie grabbed his hand and kissed it. "It looks worse than it is." she whispered, trying to reassure him. The pair sat in their awkward position for a few moments before she asked, "Do you think you can sit up?" He nodded and slowly lifted his body off the ground. Jack looked around, trying to get his bearings.

"Basement?"

"Yeah I think so. Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm better now. My head hurts a little. You?"

"Just this nasty bruise on my face."

"What happened to your shirt?"

"Figured I'd try a new look. I was kinda going for Rambo. What do you think?" They both laughed. Cassie was surprised that she could find a reason to smile, given the situation they now found themselves in. "What's going on, Jack? Why'd they take us?"

"They said it was about you, love. They only took me as an afterthought."

"Why?"

"I don't know but I need you to listen to me, Cass. I need you to do me a favor. Whatever they ask you to do, I need you to do it."

"What! No! Jack, I will never…!"

"Cass, these men are killers and I'm not going to risk getting you killed. I would never forgive myself. "

"But Jack."

"Cassie. I heard them. If they don't get what they want…"

"What is it?"

"They're going to kill us, Cass."

**Robert E. Jones Performing Art Dormitory  
Wanewood College**

"Here's their suite. Hope you find what you're looking for."

"Thank you. Man, I wish they had dorms like this when I was in college." DiNozzo said.

McGee had to agree with him. The suite was huge, with a large living room and full kitchen. The back hallway led into the three bedrooms and bathroom. McGee started taking a look around. The place definitely had a personal touch to it. There were photos everywhere; the walls were covered with examples of the students' art. McGee pick up a picture frame from the bookshelf in the living room.

"This must be our trio." He said.

"They look happy." Tony said as he started down the hallway. "There certainly doesn't look like there's been a struggle. This place is pristine. A girl definitely lives here."

"How do you figure, DiNozzo?" McGee asked.

"This place has a very feminine touch. Plus, I don't think the boys wear these." Tony said, dangling a bra from his fingers.

"Tony!"

McGee opened the door to Cassie's room. The room had a sense of organized chaos. It was clean all except the desk, which was cluttered with monologues, songbooks, and cds.

"She likes the blues." McGee said to himself as he ran his fingers over the cases. Keb' Mo, Eric Clapton, B.B. King, Jonny Lang. And the girl definitely had a caffeine addiction, evident by the number of empty coffee cups on the desk and in her trash can. A smile crept onto McGee's face as his thoughts went to Abby and her CafePows. On the top shelf of the desk was another picture of the trio. In the frame it read, Bar Harbor, Summer 2008. The three were in the bed of a bright red pickup truck on what looked like the beach. Cassie had her head resting on one of the young men's shoulders. _That must be Jack, _Mcgee thought, setting the photo down in its proper place. He wasn't finding anything that could help him find this girl.

"Hey Probie. Come check this out." Tony called from the other room.

"What is it, Tony?"

"I don't know. I don't quite know what I'm looking at here."

McGee followed the sound of Tony's voice into another bedroom. He was starring intently into the computer on the desk. McGee leaned over Tony's shoulder to see what was on the screen.

"Woah."

"Woah, what?" Tony asked.

"We need to show this to Abby."

"Why's that, McGee?"

"Cause if I'm right, these kids are involved in something extremely dangerous."

**JS Williams Theatre  
Wanewood College**

"This is absolutely horrible, Agent Gibbs. Do they know what happened yet?"

"Not yet, professor."

"Please, call me Bill. " the man said. Ziva let the two men talk as she walked around the decorated theatre. The walls were lined with pictures of past productions, crew photos, and plaques of awards from the American College Theatre Festival. One photo stood out to her. It was of a young girl in tattered clothing in the center and on either side was what looked like the same man, one in all black.

"Is this Cassie?" Ziva asked, taking the photo off the wall.

"Yes. This was just last year. Angels in America. Cassie played Harper. Jack O'Connell played Joe. Their scenes together brought tears to the eyes of our audiences every night."

"They are talented?"

"Very. Cassie's performance was one of the most moving I had ever seen."

"Tell us more about her." Gibbs asked.

"A beautiful person, inside and out.. Stunning really. Yeah, between her and the O' Connell boys, it felt like a real community."

"Community in the theatre?" Ziva asked

"Theatre is a collaborative art form. It needs all the parts to be working together in order to function as art. Sometimes that gets lost on students who are too preoccupied with their own ambitions of fame and fortune. These three really helped pull people together."

"So they were close."

"As close as three people could get." Bill said, sitting on the edge of the stage. "The O' Connell's are identical twins. That kind of relationship transcends everything and anything. The bond that those boys share is nothing short of astounding. And Cassie. Jack loves that girl more than life itself. Danny too. He and Cassie have the older brother/younger sister relationship down to a science."

"Is this Jack's brother here?" Ziva asked.

"Yes that's Daniel. He's a remarkable young man. A jack of all trades, like many of our students. His specialties lie with theatre design, painting, chemistry, and biophysics. He takes classes here and at Maine Maritime Academy. But his true passion is for the art of light design. He designed the lights for this production of Angels. Currently he's working on a new design program for conventional and moving lights. It's amazing." Bill said.

"That's quite a lot for a young man."

"He takes it in stride. They all do."

"Have you seen either of the O' Connell boys today?"

"Neither of them were in class this morning and Jack wasn't in rehearsal last night. You don't think they could be involved, do you?"

"We don't know, Professor. We just want to talk with them first."

**So sorry for the long wait...I went to post this chapter and realized that I left my notebook with this story in it back home...all the way across the country. (I was home visiting family.) so I had to rewrite this chapter from memory so its not nearly as good as the original version. The next chapter will be better and hopefully I'll get that one to you a lot sooner. Thanks for stickin with me. Any comments/ideas..etc are welcome. This is my first NCIS fic...I used to write a bunch of Pretender fics when that show was on. :)**


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